Last Writes
Want to make sure you get the last word, even from the grave? Websites such as MyLastEmail.com and PostExpression.com will send a final message to e-mail contacts after you depart for the hereafter. Foreign Policy (Jan./Feb. 2007) reports that in addition to serving as the modern equivalent of death letters, postmortem e-mails also can help put online estates in order. By including the passwords to various online accounts, the departed can provide friends and relatives the key to tying up loose ends. For an even creepier touch, you could join the throngs requesting burial with cell phones. TCSDaily.com (June 1, 2006) explains that people around the world are taking their phones to the beyond for myriad reasons, including the fear of being buried alive and the wish to have totems of affluence for all eternity. Whatever your motivation: Just don't forget to have the ringer turned off during the funeral.

A Wiser Wiki
Wikipedia has been a boon for trivia hounds, and now the same technology could transform how sustainability-minded shoppers do their homework. This fall, the Sausalito, California-based research organization Natural Capital Institute will launch WiserBusiness.org, a database of ethical policies and track records for hundreds of companies, reports East Bay Monthly (Dec. 2006). Eventually, the site's founders hope the content will be mostly user-generated, thus allowing the website to become a veritable green clearinghouse where people can research thousands of companies and search out everything from the greenest mechanic shop in Toledo to the most enlightened real estate agent in Denver.

A Map of the Toxic World
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is getting tech-savvy, and that could translate into an unprecedented resource for regulators, scientists, real estate agents, and anyone who's interested in living far away from toxic waste sites. According to CNET News (Jan. 17, 2007), the agency posted a file early this year with data on some 1,600 places on its Superfund National Priorities List. Software 'mashup' artists took the bait and added the information to maps available at Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth, plotting clusters of landfills, chemical plants, and radiation sites. The EPA has promised to release more files by the end of the year.